Expert conference in Davos: “Mountain Watershed Management”: Well-managed watersheds provide better protection against natural hazards
Bern, 16.09.2002 - The integrated maintenance and conservation of mountain watershed areas is an important measure in the provision of protection against natural hazards. Indeed, the threat of landslides, debris flows and flooding can only be limited with the help of intact watersheds. Further to this emphasis on protection, it is essential that mountain areas be used in as natural a way as possible. Thus, where possible, areas at risk from natural hazards should not be populated. An international conference taking place in Davos, Switzerland from today Monday until Wednesday is calling for action on these issues.
The conference, which is entitled ”Mountain Watershed Management”, will highlight the importance of the integrated maintenance and conservation of river and stream watersheds. The risk posed to settlements and infrastructure by the movement of snow, ice, driftwood and riverwash can only be reduced by intact mountain watersheds. In his inaugural speech, Werner Schärer, Director of the Swiss Forest Agency at the Swiss Agency for the Environment, Forests and Landscape (SAEFL), explains that with the help of timely preventive measures, such as the maintenance of protection forests and watersheds, it is possible to minimize the emergence of danger spots. However, he also draws attention to the fact ”that even a rich industrialized country like Switzerland with its highly developed safety technology cannot guarantee absolute protection against natural hazards”.
Thus, if possible, areas at risk from avalanches, rockfall or flooding should not be populated and where there is no alternative, land-use practices must be adapted to the risk; the use of early-warning systems and protective structures should only be a last resort. Werner Schärer also explains that the uses allowed in mountain areas must be sustainable so to conserve nature in the Alpine region as a viable and life-sustaining force.
Resolution for the conservation of an intact mountain region
A number of experts on the future management of mountain regions will present papers at the conference, which was jointly organized by SAEFL and FAO, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. They will address important issues such as how the modern management of watersheds can contribute to the conservation of viable mountain areas and how an integrated approach to risk management can improve the safety of inhabitants in the mountain region. Conclusions will also be drawn from past natural disasters.
M. Hosny El-Lakany, Head of the FAO Forestry Department and Assistant Director General of the organization, will report on FAO’s experience throughout the world. The delegates, who include representatives from twelve different countries, will take stock of the events, activities and successes that have unfolded in the area of natural hazard prevention over the past two years.
The passing of a joint resolution is an expression of the experts’ desire to address their concerns to politicians, administrative actors and the public. The resolution will contain information about different approaches to protection against natural hazards and the conservation of an intact mountain region. In addition to the importance of tailoring land-use practices to natural requirements, the resolution will also stress the need for the co-ordination of the various actors from the agriculture, forestry, spatial-planning, transport, hydraulic engineering and tourism sectors in the context of the sustainable development of the mountain region. The maintenance of protection forests is also highlighted as another crucial measure contributing to the mountain regions’ capacity for survival. Agriculture and forestry are in a position make an even greater contribution to the conservation of the traditional landscape in the Alpine region and the promotion of value chains such as the timber cycle. Because the Alpine ecosystem is particularly sensitive to climate change, the experts will also appeal to governments to implement the Kyoto Protocol.
From avalanches to water
The winter of avalanches of 1950/51 was the trigger for the first meeting of the Working Party on the Management of Mountain Watersheds which was held 50 years ago. The recent floods in Eastern Europe and China lend a contemporary relevance to this year’s conference in Davos. Over the course of its 50-year existence, the emphasis within the working party and the topics it deals with has shifted: at the beginning the main accent was on the exchange of information and experience relating to avalanches, while today the focus has moved to the protection of people against natural hazards and the natural use of watersheds.
From the outset, the aim of the working party, which is supported by the European Forestry Commission and the FAO, was to facilitate an exchange of experience and knowledge across national boundaries. The experts from different environmental areas, agriculture, forestry and research meet every two years. Switzerland undertook to organize the working party’s 23rd conference under the auspices of SAEFL in this the UN Year of the Mountains.
Publisher
Federal Office for the Environment FOEN
https://www.bafu.admin.ch/en
